“Eros tea is floral and fairly light. That being said, however, the lightness is deep, rich, and conveys a sense of yellow like a painting by Turner, who made yellow seem more exquisite than...”
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“I sipped on a cup of this while I was on the porch earlier and, I will admit, I was more concerned with the great weather than with of the taste of the tea so I’m not sure how much I really...”
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From Mariage Frères

Type of Tea: Black Flavored
Origin: China

Characteristics of Tea:
Delicately scented with Mauritius hibiscus and mallow flowers. Eros is a blend for lovers.

From Dean and Deluca:
Eros may be the Roman counterpart of Cupid, but we don’t think he’ll need to shoot any arrows to coax you into loving this terrific black tea scented with floral notes. Loose – so you can brew it the proper way – and fragrant, this is one tea you will want to send to someone you love.

Type of tea: Black Tea
Time to enjoy: Afternoon
Origin: Other Countries
Main flavour: Flowery

13 Tasting Notes

It’s like tLeafTea’s China Rose and 52Tea’s Earl Grey Cheesecake had a love-child .. Actually with a name like Eros it was more likely a threesome, because the tail end of the swallow is a little reminiscent of Harney & Son’s smoooooth Vanilla Comoro ..

This was very expensive and probably not something I’ll get the chance to buy again, but I’m beyond thrilled I took a chance and imported a tin! I also want to mention that this would make a wonderful gift as Mariage Freres know how to pack a treat .. From tissue paper to tins, menu’s and free postcards, this was a true delight to unwrap!

What more can I add other than simply sensational tea .. I seriously ♥ Eros, and am only taking points off due to the high cost ..

I had four cups of this yesterday and was tempted to make another pot of it this morning, but wanted to give the Marco Polo a try .. Well it’s now morning tea time and I’ve got Eros steeping once more :D

I had to check if this one was on my list for my upcoming visit to Mariage Freres in Paris, and it’s not, only because it’s available in bulk in the states from Porte Rouge (http://www.porterouge.biz) (not that it necessarily helps you Serendipitea, but for others who are interested)… I’m trying to limit the teas I pick up to things I can’t get anywhere but Paris!

Dinosara – See if you can try Coquelicot Gourmand by Dammann Freres while you are there! I got some in a swap once and it was soooooo good. I haven’t been able to find any way to get it but to order it from Paris!

Yes! Southern Season has it! I may get to try it after all. The description sounds really good. If you want more, you can possibly save a bit on shipping by ordering it from them. They are in Chapel Hill, NC.

Eros tea is floral and fairly light. That being said, however, the lightness is deep, rich, and conveys a sense of yellow like a painting by Turner, who made yellow seem more exquisite than anything nature could offer.

The aroma is not as intense as Marco Polo, another favorite of mine, but it is like being in a French country garden—possibly at Giverny where Monet painted. With Eros I once again noticed the brilliant way that Mariage Frères has deep rich flavors that sustain themselves on the tongue, in the throat and in the aftertaste. A lot of light floral teas I know give a little whiff of their perfume and POOF! they have vanished. This tea stays: like the finest French perfume, it caresses you with its vapors and aromas.

It’s a nice black and would be a wonderful blend to serve at a sophisticated tea party or, as the name suggests, after a romantic tryst.

One of the things I like about Mariage Frères teas is they are resolutely natural: the ingredients must be of the highest quality and there is no hint of anything synthetic or ephemeral. it may cost more than other black teas, but it is worth it. Considering what you get, it’s a lot less costly than a tea bag at Starbucks!

I sipped on a cup of this while I was on the porch earlier and, I will admit, I was more concerned with the great weather than with of the taste of the tea so I’m not sure how much I really noticed. The dry leaf made me think of Peeps marshmallows… if Peeps was a gourmet dessert and not little balls of stale sugar. Creamy, sweet and with a little tang of something unidentifiable. All brewed up, the smell was a little more exotic. I could taste a bit of the hibiscus but it wasn’t overwhelming – just a faint ding of tart that brought to mind fresh berries. Of course, once the Peeps connection was made, I couldn’t get it out of my mind and I ended up thinking of gourmet raspberry Peeps. If they made gourmet raspberry Peeps. Oddly enough, I don’t think it tasted like actual raspberry or even actual Peeps but that’s what got stuck in my head. That being said, I’m not in love with this tea but I think it is more a personal taste thing than a tea thing. Because anything that reminds me of raspberry just isn’t something I’ll ever adore.

Preparation

Eros has an aroma just as beautiful as that of Marco Polo, but the note is floral (resembling rose fragrance!) instead of fruity. I took a sip eagerly, confident that this would become another favourite of mine -

Yes, it is a truly delicate and yummy tea. It is sweeter than love! Wait, there’s a strange taste developing in my mouth… It’s bittersweet and a bit earthy, in a way that I don’t find very pleasant. WHAT IS THAT?

Sadly, the same experience repeated in every sip – it was delicious at the beginning but it ended with the weird, puzzling taste. Sigh! I googled the ingredients of Eros as soon as I came home, and then I got it – it’s probably hibiscus again!!!! I had only had hibiscus in the form of herbal tea, so usually the result was extreme tartness rather than the tinge of bitterness found in this tea. Now I have learnt another lesson about evil hibiscus! I will do a better job in detecting its presence next time.

oh, hibiscus, I totally know what you mean. It´s my pet hate in tea – it always tastes too bitter, too tart for me (well, maybe with some exceptions. I sort of like it in iced tea). Thanks for the warning about this, I always to want to know when a blend has hibiscus.

You are welcome cteresa… someone should really form a group and list out teas that contain hibiscus to prevent unsuspecting tea drinkers, haha… :P I totally agree that hibiscus is more acceptable in an iced tea. But I guess I won’t pick any tea with hibiscus when I am informed of its presence or when I have other choices! ;)

Thanks! I really hate hibiscus – it is so popular, or at least it has been for a while. It overpowers everything. I am sort of curious about this Eros, if anybody can do hibiscus right, it just might be Mariage Freres. Though to be fair, there is a british tea shop called Yumchaa which has this rooibos-rosehips tea with some hibiscus which works, really works, the hibiscus is contained.

Mr Jones as far I know only make tea bags, I got them at a this chain of gourmet thingies called Oil&Vinegar http://www.oilvinegar.com/ – I only got their rose and lychee tea but they were awesome versions of those. And it was nice tea bags, I love teafoil packaging for teabags, tea tastes so much fresher.

MF, oh, everybody must have their vices – there are some local stores which sell it by the weight, and I get some 50 grams of this or that now and again. Only problem is the list of “to rebuy and must never ever be without this tea” keeps growing, it´s so evil of them to make so many great teas.

I think Eros is worth trying if you are a fan of MF! It will be interesting to taste how MF handles hibiscus ;) Actually it isn’t all that bad – it’s A LOT better than other teas containing hibiscus, and the bitter taste is actually rather subtle. I guessed the problem was more about my expectation! I had no idea that Eros contained hibiscus so the bitter taste somehow shocked me!

Haha yes MF is really evil… their teas are so delicious, and the tins so elegant! I have Marco Polo and Wedding Imperial in my cupboard, but I treasure them so much that I haven’t started drinking them!! :P

Thanks so much for the link! I must try Mr Jones someday. Lychee is one of my favourite flavours! :)

Oh, Wedding Imperial was my first MF tea, I made that tin last almost 3 years – and take my advice, do not hoard it for as long, do drink it as it is meant to be. Towards the end it was no longer quite as awesome as it was at first. I reused the tin actually, you can actually remove the stickers – though I got to confess their tins annoy me, they are not stackable, you can not pile them up on top of others (not necessarily MF. I do not have that many MF to worry about that), which is important for me. I actually like Kusmi tea tins better, but I do not actually like their teas nearly enough to pay almost MF prices for Kusmi, so forget it.

Try “The de Lune”. They yank the hibiscus and replace it with peppery notes.. I’m still trying to guess but I’m thinking it is french marjoram blossom, sweet rocket, or purple marigold. About to write my tasting review of it as I sip on it side-by-side with Eros to compare ;-)

I know this is supposed to be black tea and flowers, but what it tastes like to me is some lemon grapefruit St. Germain hybrid flower :) I would say there were elderflowers in here but they are not listed. I don’t taste hibiscus like it tastes in the various herbals I’ve had at all. I find it in the same vein of an Earl Grey (citrusy but without bergamot, if that makes any sense). It is absolutely delightful! Very elegant. Very special.

I made a second steep at 5 minutes, no sugar, and it’s very tasty, floral/citrus.

I NEED a tin of this :) I think it would make a great iced tea for a very special occasion too!

I am drinking this brewed hot and poured over ice today. I made it a bit weaker than I usually do for hot brewed iced tea, four teaspoons to 1.5 litres, but I think it is just about perfect. I find the lighter flavour really refreshing and the colour is beautiful.

I upped my rating a little too because I have enjoyed it more iced. Yum!

I had this yesterday morning and I was a little wary of it because I didn’t really know what kind of tea it was. As it was steeping it smelled like rose tea so that perked me up a bit. The first sip tasted fruity to me and the rest of the cup tasted like a fruity flowery combo which I found quite delicious. I don’t think this tea actually has fruit in it so my best guess is that the fruit I am tasting is from the hibiscus, but regardless I thoroughly enjoyed this tea. Actually I could really use a cup right now as I wait for a scanner to send me an email – ugh!!! Counting down the minutes til I can go home and get some tea!